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Art

The National Museum of American History is not an art museum. But works of art fill its collections and testify to the vital place of art in everyday American life. The ceramics collections hold hundreds of examples of American and European art glass and pottery. Fashion sketches, illustrations, and prints are part of the costume collections. Donations from ethnic and cultural communities include many homemade religious ornaments, paintings, and figures. The Harry T Peters "America on Stone" collection alone comprises some 1,700 color prints of scenes from the 1800s. The National Quilt Collection is art on fabric. And the tools of artists and artisans are part of the Museum's collections, too, in the form of printing plates, woodblock tools, photographic equipment, and potters' stamps, kilns, and wheels.

Charcoal drawing on paper. The focal point of the drawing is a large machine. The drawing is framed by a pipeline on the left. On the right, in the background, are a set of stairs and more equipment. The catalog card reads: "The entire plant, one of the largest in existence, was brought over and constructed by Americans."

Charcoal drawing on paper. A large chateau sits in the center of the sketch. There is a telegraph pole at the right edge of the drawing. From the catalog card: "'This Chateau was long used as a German Headquarters and when this drawing was made (Sept. 16th) it was the H.q. of our 29th Division.' (original label)" Although the catalog card says Sept. 16th, the artist's signature says "Aug 19 ; 18."

Pencil and ink wash sketch on paper. In the foreground, a damaged bridge extends halfway across a river. Soldiers in the river are repairing the bridge. In the background, buildings line the far bank of the river.

Charcoal sketch depicting the after-effects of the bombardment of Badonviller. An empty street, filled with rubble, is bordered by shell-torn buildings. The sketch is on white paper, which is affixed to a larger piece of heavy white cardboard.

Charcoal and ink wash sketch on blue-gray paper. Interior scene. American soldiers billeted in the a room of an old Benedictine Monastery in the Toul Sector. Soldiers engaged in a game of cards. The sketch is matted on heavy white card stock.

Pencil and ink wash sketch. The scene is of a group of American soldiers marching in formation in an urban square. One of the soldiers in the march is carrying an American flag. An airplane flies over the city. Washington statue on left. The sketch is on a piece of heavy card stock that is affixed to a piece of cardboard. Underneath the sketch, also attached to the cardboard, is a printed label that reads :"AMERICAN TROOPS DESCENDING AVENUE/PRESIDENT WILSON/Paris, July 4, 1918/BY E. PEIXOTTO/TRANSFERRED FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT/2963."